The problem of disposing of waste materials particularly waste material of the type that is generally deposited at a landfill waste management site has become more acute. Typically, this waste material is household garbage and non-toxic industrial and commercial waste such as wood, concrete paper, food, glass, metals and old furniture. These waste materials are collected and transported by truck or barge to a landfill site. Once at the landfill site, the waste materials may be segregated somewhat to remove large metal objects, concrete and the like from the rest of the material. The remainder of the waste material is then usually simply covered over with earth and buried. In some locations, where burning is allowed, those items which may be burned are and the rest of the waste material is buried.
Many landfill sites are presently experiencing the problem of having to deal with too much waste material too quickly and are running out of available land to do so. As well, the current method of simply burying the waste material under a layer of earth does not lead to the natural breakdown of the organic component of the waste. This contributes to the problem of land usage since land previously used for landfill cannot be reused in a reasonable length of time. This can result in increased costs due to the need to purchase additional land as the landfill becomes full. Furthermore, if the waste material contains heavy metals, there is considerable risk that these compounds will seep out of the landfill and contaminate the soil and nearby water supplies.
The burning of some of the waste can help reduce the amount of waste material in a landfill site but this is prohibited by law in many places where air quality is a concern. Furthermore, any of the waste material that is burned cannot be recycled.
A process for reducing waste material at a landfill waste management site is needed which reduces the volume of waste material in the landfill site, prevents contamination of the ground soil, allows for the natural breakdown of the organic components of the waste material and which allows for the recycling of some or all of the waste material.